Semiannually the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) releases an agenda of its anticipated regulatory activities. The CFPB announced its 2017 Spring Agenda on July 20, 2017, and today, August 24, 2017, the Agenda was published in the Federal Register (FR). The Agenda outlines issues the CFPB planned/plans to address during the period of May 1, 2017 to April 30, 2018. The next agenda will be published in Fall 2017.

The Agenda includes 19 items (4 pre-rule stage, 9 proposed rule stage, and 6 final rule stage) on the CFPB’s to-do list. Some of the efforts outlined in the agenda that we have already seen action on or may see action on in coming months include:

Mortgage Servicing (Final and Proposed Rule Stages)
The CFPB is providing follow-up rulemakings to address issues that have arisen during the implementation process and to provide greater clarification to financial institutions. In line with this agenda the CFPB has already released the following:
• TRID – Final TRID amendments on July 7, 2017 with publication in the Federal Register (FR) on August 11, 2017.
• HMDA – A proposed rule issued on July 14, 2017 to temporarily increase the threshold for HELOC and a proposed rule issued on April 13, 2017 to clarify information financial institutions are required to collect and report about their mortgage lending.
• Mortgage Servicing – Final technical amendments to the 2016 mortgage servicing amendments to address two typographical errors, the authority citation for Regulation Z, and several amendatory instructions relating to certain official commentary to apply the correct effective date.

Arbitration (Final Rule Stage)
The CFPB issued a proposed rule on May 24, 2016 and a final rule on July 10, 2017 to regulate arbitration agreements in contracts for specified consumer financial products and services.

Regulation P (Final Rule Stage)
The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) was amended to add new section 503(f)
(financial institutions are no longer required to provide annual privacy notices if they meet certain requirements). Section 503(f) was effective upon enactment. In consultation with other agencies, the CFPB issued a proposal in July 2016, to make modify Regulation P to incorporate section 503(f). A final rule is expected by November 2017.

Prepaid Rules (Proposed Rule Stage)
The CFPB delayed the effective date of the rule for six months, until April 1, 2018. The CFPB also issued a proposed rule on June 15, 2017, as a result of concerns regarding error resolution and linking to digital wallets.

Debt Collection (Proposed Rule Stage)
The CFPB plans to issue a proposed rule in September 2017 concerning FDCPA collectors’ communications practices and consumer disclosures. The Bureau intends to follow up separately at a later time about concerns regarding information flows between creditors and FDCPA collectors and about potential rules to govern creditors that collect their own debts.

Payday Loan, Title Loans and Other Similar Credit Products (Proposed Rule Stage)
The CFPB issued a proposed rule on June, 2 2016 with publication in the FR on July 22, 2016, to address consumer harms from practices related to payday loans and other similar credit products, including failure to determine whether consumers have the ability to repay without default or re-borrowing and certain payment collection practices. The CFPB is currently reviewing comments received. The CFPB has not indicated a date that we can expect to see a proposed rule.

Business Lending Data (Pre-Rule Stage)
Reporting of information concerning credit applications made by women-owned, minority-owned, and small businesses. The CFPB is focusing on outreach and research to develop its understanding of the players, products, and practices in the small business lending market and of the potential ways to implement the requirements under 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act which amends ECOA. The CFPB then expects to begin developing proposed regulations.

Overdrafts (Pre-Rule Stage)
The CFPB is conducting research in preparation for a potential rulemaking regarding overdraft programs on checking accounts. The CFPB is currently testing newly released overdraft disclosure prototypes and considering whether other regulatory changes may be warranted to enhance consumer decision making.

Assess Effectiveness of Significant Rules
The Dodd-Frank Act directs the CFPB to assess the effectiveness of significant rules five years after they are implemented, including seeking public comment.
• The CFPB published a request for comment on its plan to assess the effectiveness of the remittance transfers rule.
• The CFPB expects to seek comment later this year on its plans to assess the effectiveness of certain of the Dodd-Frank Act mortgage rules.

Review of Inherited Regulations
The CFPB plans to begin the first in a series of reviews of existing regulations that it inherited from other agencies through the transfer of authorities under the Dodd-Frank Act.

The Spring 2017 Agenda is accessible here.
The CFPB Blog article announcing the 2017 Spring Agenda is available here.
The Federal Register document is available here.